Friday 13 June 2008

Losing weight sometimes has a downside

Back in January I hit my highest record weight: 94 kilos. Belgian food can kill you, let me tell you. I decided I had to do something about it, I needed to get back in shape. I needed to start going to the gym, rather than simply paying the gym's fee...

And so I did. At the moment I am 83 kilos and counting (hopefully). I was able to build back muscles and lose a lot of fat. I still need to lose around 5-7 kilos, but I feel great.

But if you are a biker with a lot of protective (and expensive) gear, losing weight has a phenomenal downside: all your gear is far too big. I had bought a leather protective jacket (my first motorbike leather jaket!!!) back in November, and I was waiting for April-May to start using it. Well, now it is far too big. It still has the label on it, I never never used it once. It is useless. 350 Euros thrown down the toilet.

Same thing for my summer mesh Clover Air Tek trousers, which I bought last year...and for the Dainese winter jacket. But at least I used those for one season...

The problem is that this gear now fits so loose that the protections at the elbows, the knees and the shoulders move around, and do not provide any guarantee of protection in case of a crash. The only item which I can safely wear is a Spidi Spring-Summer jacket which I bought back in March, when I had started already my diet and my exercise. I had bought it two sizes too small...as an incentive for me to get thiner...it worked, so now it is the only thing which I can use.

Now I am facing a dilemma. I am one of those bikers that use protective gear all the time, even in very hot weathers. I always wear a back protector and an harmoured jacket at the very minimum. Depending on the lenght of the journey I add harmored trousers and boots.

But what shall I do now? Should I buy new stuff? Should I contact the manufacturers of the products I own (some of them really only one year old) and see whether these products can be adjusted? Or should I just sit and wait until I am sure I can keep my weight? And what should I do in the meantime?

Don't get me wrong. I am extremely happy of my new shape. I think a man decides in his mid-thirties how fit he will be for the rest of his life. So it was important for me to go back to practicing sports and eating healthy as I had done before coming to Belgium.

But on the other hand, what a waste of money!!!! Even the boots are now too large!!!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

eh eh eh...a quanto pare non sono solo problemi di noi donne....io colleziono una serie infinita di pantaloni,adatti ad ogni momento del mio girovita.sono dell'idea che, per quanto poi alla fine risulti essere dispendioso, uno debba scegliere il proprio abbigliamento in base alle esigenze del momento; certo se la previsione è di perdere ancora qualche chilo (ti vedo lanciato) sarà un po' difficile orientarsi fra le scelte,ma che cavolo, le attrezzature da biker sono così care?

Demonio Pellegrino said...

elle, ci sono di tutti i prezzi...ma se vuoi qualcosa con le protezioni omologate (le uniche in grado di proteggerti, forse, in caso di caduta, i prezzi sono altini...

Poi diciamo che a me piacciono molto le marche spidi e dainese, che sono anche le piu' care...fai tu...

Unknown said...

Perhaps you can sell it on Ebay! At least you could recover some of your costs.

Demonio Pellegrino said...

Hi rick, welcome. That's precisely what I am planning to do...are you interested in a new leather jacket by any chance???

Btw, very nice BMW you have...

redlegsrides said...

demonio

you could also try advertising in the various motorcycling forums as well...

Its taken my wife over ten years of marriage to get me to put on weight and it's only like 15lbs...so I've the opposite problem to yours.

Demonio Pellegrino said...

Thank you Dom. I have the capability to put on weight so fast that I am surprised I am not 150kilos already...

So I am torn in two: on the one hand I would like to get rid of the lartge stuff, also to put psycological pressure on myself to try and avoid taking back weight...but on the other the little voice in my head is saying "take it easy pal, you will need this stuff back in one year..."

But I am surely selling the leather jacket. I think it is a waste FOR THE JACKET ITSELF not to be used...

Anonymous said...

But, healthier, now you could be around for many more years to ride, too. Sell the stuff, buy new, enjoy.

Demonio Pellegrino said...

that's a very positive way of looking at it!!! You are 100% right.

leox said...

Anche secondo me l'unica è vendere e comprare altro della giusta misura. Non ha senso tenere roba nuova che non puoi usare. Certo è un bel giramento di scatole, anche perché ovviamente qualcosa ci perdi, però meglio così che tenere il tutto nell'armadio ;-)